A new month, a new day.
Around ten in the morning, Li Wei, having eaten and slept his fill, staggered out of his room like a landed gentleman. His main quest for the month remained vague.
Just one night watch, plus an extra patrol around the camp.
Winter was ending, and hungry beasts in the woods would expand their range. Li Wei didn’t need Penny or Fila to tell him that — he knew it clearly himself.
And it directly affected him.
Fila only handled cooking, feeding the cattle, and at most fetching water from the creek. The family’s Four Workhorses were all tired and worked like monkeys, but as long as they didn’t run into a starving black bear, they’d be fine.
The real problem was the three patches of winter wheat outside the camp. When the winter snow lted and the wheat greened again, who could resist such tender, juicy food? If he were Second Brother, Li Wei would not be able to resist either.
So this was not a one-off crisis. It would last two to three months, continuous.
That was the real test Li Wei had to face.
Of course, there was a solution: move the stone blocks and build a stone wall around the wheat fields. Borrowing them temporarily, Li Wei had to make sure the Four Workhorses agreed in advance. Otherwise, he really feared their resentnt would be so heavy that one dark night they might turn on him.
After that, Li Wei spoke separately with Thomas, Margaret, Penny, and Leon about borrowing the stone blocks, and they reached an agreent to lend them for only one month.
Next month, the weather would warm and the ground would thaw — it would be ti for major construction.
Li Wei didn’t expect too much; next month he wouldn’t even be the Family Head anymore, so why worry?
If the winter wheat got ruined by wild boars, that would be the new Family Head’s problem to deal with.
This winter was indeed coming to an end. The snow that fell a few days ago had already lted quickly on the sunny slopes. The air was still cold, usually around minus ten degrees Celsius. With plenty of afternoon sun, temperatures could jump to a few degrees below zero, and standing in a sun-facing spot felt a warmth that seed to crawl out from between the bones.
At this mont Li Wei carried his bow bag on his back, five cone-headed arrows, an iron spear in his hand, and three evenly balanced wooden spears strapped to his back as he patrolled the camp.
His furthest patrol reached two li away, to where the Four Workhorses quarried stone. Sotis he would wade across the creek to check the forest edge on the opposite bank; where snow still lingered, beast tracks often remained.
Fortunately, these past two days he hadn’t seen any large beasts, only a few pheasants and rabbits.
He had no intention of hunting. His task was patrol and reconnaissance: learn the surroundings, familiarize himself with the terrain changes, and study where to set traps.
Of course, they still needed to move stone blocks to build the wall.
Actually, he had already built a small stone wall and fence at the edge of those three fields, but he couldn’t guarantee it would hold up to Second Brother’s charge.
So it was better to be cautious.
Besides that, most of his ti these days went into supervising work. Margaret and Penny were teaming up to make two spare recurve bows and would add a few gadgets. Li Wei had thought they were going to build compound bows, but he had overestimated. They only added things like arrow rests and seed to increase draw strength sowhat.
The bow materials Penny had stored earlier matched the recurve bow Li Wei currently used. He didn’t know whether the wood was mulberry or so other species, so he just watched — not really supervising.
Leon, however, helped forge the steel spearheads. Li Wei could read the workmanship and suggested changing the spearhead to a triangular cross-section.
Overall, the mood was pleasant.
Penny, Margaret, and Leon, when free, turned their attention to the wooden wheel cart and bearings. The bearings were an unknown difficulty, but the cart itself was close to completion, which was undoubtedly good news.
Days passed. After completing their main tasks, Margaret, Penny, and Leon rejoined the team. The Four Workhorses went back out into the field, each with a wooden wheel cart.
Li Wei had basically finished stacking the new stone wall. In his view, it should withstand Second Brother’s charge.
Of course, preparations could never be lacking.
Wild boars often moved at night, so Li Wei remained alert and his sleep ti decreased significantly.
As for weapons, three recurve bows, ten cone-headed arrows, and five triangular iron spears were all hung by the door so he could rush out at the first sign of trouble.
In his remaining ti, Li Wei trained with enthusiasm — archery and wooden spear throwing.
In every respect, he had improved greatly. He could now reliably hit flying pheasants and rabbits at fifty ters. Faster beasts like sika deer required being within thirty ters to be sure.
As for throwing wooden spears, that had beco instinctive. Within twenty ters, whether static or moving targets, he could point and strike. It felt exhilarating.
Before he knew it, twenty-five days of the month had passed. Snow in the woods was almost gone. Night temperatures were only a few degrees below zero. There had been no signs of boars descending from the mountain, and no tracks nearby.
Li Wei himself relaxed his vigilance a bit. One night, after stuffing the fireplace with firewood, he lay down and was drowsy when suddenly he heard a crash, as if sothing heavy had fallen. Then the old ox in the cowshed let out a bellow, and there were heavy thuds as if the beast was wildly thrashing about.
He jolted awake, leapt up, darted to the doorway in a few strides, grabbed two sharp iron spears, and rushed outside. There was no moon, only faint starlight, but he could still make out vague shapes.
A dozen ters away at the cowshed, the gate rails had fallen. The old ox was frantically pawing and trying to bolt, and sothing dark was clinging to its back.
The next mont, that thing seed to smack the ox’s spine. The ox wailed and collapsed.
Almost at the sa ti, Li Wei hurled his iron spear like lightning. In that instant he was partially stunned, acting on pure instinct. Three months of training had tuned his awareness, actions, and reflexes to a close sync.
The whoosh of the spear was drowned by the ox’s anguished bellow, but the throw struck the dark shape precisely, though he couldn’t tell exactly where it hit.
Inside the cowshed ca a roar like thunder, making Li Wei’s scalp crawl and his hairs stand on end, as if a chill wind had pierced the crown of his head. He shivered uncontrollably, feeling like he might wet himself.
The next second, the dark figure abandoned the ox and sprang up with unimaginable speed and terrifying force, lunging straight at Li Wei.
Even in the dark, even without a clear view, Li Wei felt as if Mount Tai would collapse — the world thundered in his head and nearly went pale.
But he had killed people before. He was not a novice hunter. The two to three months of training, especially the triple-throw drills, ensured that even while stunned and nearly frightened into paralysis, the last sliver of survival instinct kept him minimally calm. He did not turn to run or freeze.
From the mont he threw the first spear, he never stopped. He took two steps forward as trained, stretching his body, and when the massive dark shape closed to about five ters, he summoned all his strength and hurled the second iron spear with the most violent, ruthless, terrifying force he could muster.
There was no aiming, no thought, only muscle mory and the precise boost from the Two-Star Hunter Card fully unleashed.
“Puh!”
At that mont Li Wei heard it clearly, and finally saw it clearly.
The sharp iron spear pierced through the dark shape’s head—
Only then did Li Wei belatedly realize — holy crap! This was actually a bear!
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